Why am I posting pictures of McDonald's and Starbucks? Take a closer look, and you'll see that my quarter pounder is actually a cuarto de libra, and that's because I got it in Spain. I chose this post for tonight for a few reasons: it will be useful in the future (teaching about food in Spanish), I love sharing this goofy stuff and because it will actually be an easy fast post, which I need :) Busy nights now a days - sometimes in a fun way, most of the time in a read-poetry-off-of-the-reading-list kind of way. So while the summer bugs fly around my cave apartment and my thoughts drift lazily to my ukelele instead of García Lorca, I'll just take a little break to write about something I'm not so sure he would have cared for.
As you can see, and as I'm sure most people are aware, huge chains like McDonald's, Burger King and even the less expected KFC can be found in many cities in Spain. In bigger cities like Madrid and Barcelona, this came as little surprise to me. However, to find a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut in much smaller Pamplona was a bit of a shock. In any case, it makes for an easy comfort food when one is feeling far from home. After all, McDonald's in Idaho is the same is McDonald's in Spain, right? Not exactly. You will find your quarter pounder and (my beloved) nuggets with more sauce than anyone needs, but the best (and maybe only redeemable?) thing about eating this food elsewhere is seeing how they change the menu in each place! My favorite is the coffee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that you can get for somewhere around 1 euro. It's certainly worth exploring.
As for the potatoes with ketchup and mayonnaise on top, those are a 100% Spanish fast food item. In Pans (and in many other establishments), one can order this weirdly satisfying fast version of patatas bravas, which really look something like this: http://whereintheworldisbrynn.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/patatas-bravas.jpg. You know, it's like grilling a burger or getting a nice one out vs. the quarter pounder at MacDo. Somewhere in that recipe, it's similar to the original dish. How it got to be what it is, you don't know and you don't want to know, but it has to do with paying very little and eating very fast. Or at least being served very fast.
As for the Starbucks, the least I can say in my defense is that this flavor, the CHAI frappuccino, I have not seen in the U.S. (although I asked for it during frappy hour once and it came out fine). It was delicious. It was beastly hot that day in Madrid, and I found myself in a Starbucks where I knew I could get something cold and use a bathroom. I was beyond pleased as I sucked it down and people-watched, then planned my day of walking around the city. You'll notice the name on the cup says "Andy." Food blog is not the place to tell that story.
